Flickr Photos

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [Images] on Saturday dismissed reports that he had offered to resign as captain following a row with the selectors on the exclusion of pacer Rudra Pratap Singh from the ODI squad.

“Speculation is good. I don’t know where the report came from,” he told reporters in Bangalore on the eve of the fourth one-day international against England .

Dhoni also came down hard on the selection meeting details being leaked out to the media.

Dhoni strokes style, spirit and substance
“It cannot be a report because what happens inside a inside meeting when the selectors, the captain and the coaches are there, when it comes out it is disgusting and disrespectful. There will be debates inside and that information should not be put out in the media,” he said.

“Things like this should not be happening. I am not saying something happened at the meeting, but over the years we have seen things being leaked from meetings and things getting out,” the wicketkeeper added.

Media reports on Saturday said that Dhoni had a disagreement with the selectors during the meeting on Thursday to pick the team for the fourth and fifth matches of the ongoing series against England.

Dhoni was unhappy that the selectors decided to drop R P Singh and include Irfan Pathan [Images] in his place and offered to resign, the reports claimed, quoting an unnamed source close to one of the selectors.

Yuvraj on cricket, captaincy & love
Dhoni confirmed that the controversy had affected the team’s preparation ahead of the fourth ODI on Sunday.

“To some extent it does distract us. The good part is that we trust each other, every player in the team trusts each other. I didn’t speak to the Board. I didn’t think it was important. There is a lot that goes around. We have an important match coming up and we chose instead to focus on that match,” he said.